Braves lose challenge on relay to second base

By
Mark Bowman
MLB.com

ATLANTA -- Dan Uggla made a great flip and Andrelton Simmons alertly reapplied his tag. But upon further review, there was not enough evidence to support Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez's hope that his two middle infielders turned an impressive out in the second inning of Friday night's 3-2 win over the Rockies.

After lining a ball off the left-field wall to begin the second, Nolan Arenado took a wide turn around first base, halted momentarily and then took off as Justin Upton's throw approached the infield. Uggla snared the throw on the edge of the infield grass and then quickly turned to flip the ball toward Simmons.

Arenado beat the flip, but as he slid past the bag, it appeared Simmons might have tagged his left foot. Gonzalez issued a challenge, but after a replay review of three minutes, 48 seconds, the umpires revealed the play stood, which meant there was not conclusive evidence that the tag was applied before Arenado regained contact with the bag.

Corey Dickerson followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Arenado then scored the game's first run on Jordan Pacheco's RBI groundout.

The Braves had been successful with eight of their previous nine challenges they had issued this year.

"I thought Danny made an unbelievable play on that one where they ended up scoring that run," Gonzalez said. "We challenged it. It was one of those where you don't know what is going to happen. But I had a gut feeling, why not, because it's going to be a big run and it sure could have been."